L A Y N A O Y E R V I D E S
5.3.2011 Exploring Jungian Concepts of Archetypes with the reading of Siddhartha--Meta-narratives
5.8.2011: An addendum for HOT TOPICS
The first and most important step to being able to understand our role in preparing students to be competitive in the 21st century is to be willing to break with past ways of teaching--to discard old pedagogical habits. In our class discussion, this subject was often brought up. Since many teachers working in the school system were educated before the 21st century, it seems to be harder for these teachers to separate their needs from that of their students--even though they are clearly very different. This is especially true when thinking about technology. Since it's nice to be able to make up a curricular plan and use that over and over again, as technology quickly advances, it is easy to remain lost in the past. However, we can use our knowledge as future teachers in order to help the government make wise decisions about how to bring technology into the classroom. In the state of Idaho, for example, we might consider the way thats Luna's educational reform might or might not be helping students--and we can use pedagogical evidence to back it up. (That reminds me--I forgot to sign the petition at Winco.)
In order to better prepare students for a competitive 21st century experience, we need to emphasize broader mental skills: CRITICAL THINKING, PROBLEM SOLVING, COMMUNICATION, COLLABORATION, CREATIVITY, and INNOVATION--rather than focusing firstly on subjects. This follows the model that Understanding by Design champions--designing by standards, from the top down. Someone--or some-several--has clearly seen that American students are not competitive in the world and lack the development and guidance needed in the aforementioned six areas. These skills are cross-curricular, and can be explored in every subject. So, as educators, our role is to kindle these skills in our students--giving them the skills needed to gather the both basic info we would have tried to teach them in certain subject as well as the ability and desire to explore subjects in greater depth and with greater passion.
The Partnership for 21st century skills website: http://www.p21.org/ has a ton of resources detailing ways to implement the 6 themes into classrooms. Even if our school-board and staff isn't aware of it, we can certainly begin implementing these ideas without fear that we will miss something. The thirteenth chapter of Understanding by Design reminds us that we don't need to worry about getting to all the content we need to cover in a course--because if we plan around these larger themes, it will be easier for students to place the information into their minds and it is more likely happen anyway if we're focusing on bigger ideas. We need to remember that our job is to help students to see the obvious real world implications of what they are learning and to focus on interesting questions and issues that are relevant to the students--staying in the role of coach (UBD 314).
As I stated in the post I wrote on the 3rd regarding the 21st century Partnership, I think that focusing on collaboration can be very effective because in order to work together toward some common goal, all the other skills are needed. The goal and working toward it as a team can help peers utilize their unique strengths in order to achieve that goal. It can cause them to draw out the skills in each other that may be lying dormant--working toward a greater good can be very motivating. The teacher acts as the head coach, strategically placing students together in order to maximize the natural possibility for personal growth.
5.3.2011: Partnership for 21st Century Discussion
Since I ended up missing our discussion about the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, I thought I would at least write down my questions and then my own thoughts/notes about them.
As I was going through the site, my first question was more like concern over how to ensure that 21st century interdisciplinary themes could be included in classroom curriculum and properly assessed.
My second question was really about the relevancy of the 21st century content. Some people say that globalization has already ceased. I got all excited about that idea and started reading Noam Chomsky and was going to go on about how globalization means a couple different things when I realized that the theme was actually "Global Awareness". Global Awareness is just about being able to interact with people on a global level and being able to understand how to apply 21st century skills to a global context. But, I wonder if global awareness will even need to be addressed or if it will just be a given in twenty years. If these skills are quickly implemented, then society will quickly move on.
These were more like questions I was asking myself while I was reading. The site answered all of them. When I delved into the maps that have been developed for classroom integration in the Arts and English Curriculum, I was more interested. Within the English section, the main topics were Creativity/Innovation, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Communication, Collaboration, and Informational Literacy, Media Literacy, ICT literacy, Flexibility and Adaptability, Initiative and Self-Direction, Social and Cross-Cultural Skills, Productivity and Accountability, AND Leadership and Responsibility.
I think that the Information, Media, and Technology Skills category is probably the best part about the curriculum because it may help low-income student--who would have the least access to technology in theory (although I see a lot of poor kids with ipods--I suppose it depends upon financial priorities)--who would be left behind the easiest as the way we exchange information continues to change with our media and technological developments.
While all the themes are important, my next question is "which parts of this curriculum would be most useful in Idaho?"
All of them? Could we hold back a little on the civic literacy and addressing environmental issues and do more about global awareness? How do we make preliminary assessments about these issues?
What if we have a classroom of students, some from the 21st century and some from the 1800's? What if students don't desire to live in the 21st century?
What about the Quakers?
The Partnership for the 21st Century Skills assumes that students are accepting the idea that we live within time. Some students may think that the present is the only thing that matters. What if they're not willing to ride "Time's Arrow" to coming entropy?
[Luckily, they will still know how to play the 21st century game. That's all the curriculum is trying to teach, right? I may have to have this conversation if I have a silly student like myself... ]
Otherwise, I think the curriculum is a good way to progress within that movement. It seems more freeform than the current curriculum--more focused on student needs than what is in place now. Within Art curriculum, one sees a lot of the media side of things. I think more of the focus can be on developing little collaborators who look for ideas and skills in each other and the world around them. That will breed creativity. Communication will be a part of the collaborative goal.
Is there something in that might be the best thing to focus on in the English map? Maybe the same; developing collaborative thinking and doing?
4.5.2011 DISCUSSION
When I was doing my observation, I was taken aback to when I had been sitting in the same classroom several years ago. I had been slightly aghast at how often my teacher broke into reading with discussion. I was really against it--shouldn't we read the whole story and then go back and talk about it? But I noticed how refreshing it was to break up the inner dialogue I was having with the text with some discussion--if only to make that inner dialogue become conscious and organized. It gave me chance to say something enlightened, but I avoided that most of the time because understanding the dialogue that other people were having with the book was more interesting for me (well, and who knew if I was even on what was considered 'the right page', esoterically???) While I was observing this same teacher I had the same initial response to the amount of discussion she implemented, but I realize now that there are a few things she didn't demonstrate while I was observing. She would lead the total class discussion but the questions were mostly 'yes' or 'no' questions, and she could have waited a little longer for responses. I noticed that she had a hard time not interjecting her opinions into the discussion, but that she was conscious of the fact that it was better if she was not doing that. It's apparent to me that the reason she would use this method of discussion is that it is hard to keep the high schoolers talking about English--I think she feels safer if she is able to maintain control of the classroom by doing one large discussion. It would be rude to e-mail her some of the schemes from Wilhelm, but if I could improve her class, which usually ended with homework assignments and five minutes of down-time, I'd have her class doing guided group discussion earlier in the period--more front-loading sorts of things.
I wouldn't use the ReQuest questioning scheme right away with them, since they aren't reading non-fiction and the other schemes might work better; however, I like it the most because it seems to address levels of meaning and this is one of the things that I want them to *hypothetically* learn to recognize with my literary theory unit. I want them to read while looking for these levels of meanings so that they can analyze the text they are assigned through their assigned theory. I'll implement the ReQuest Activity and Discussion, as this well help them to become acquainted with the text they are assigned as well as with their particular thoughts on the subject. Since they will have to explain and discuss their paper at the end of the unit, this will prepare them for questions that may come at that time.
ENGAGEMENT: 02.27.2011 This month, I've been playing around with the notion of adding a math endorsement. It would be easy--just take a couple tests with the ABCTE program--however, it has been a long time since I studied math and there is a section on linear algebra that I need to spend a lot of time learning. I have always had good spatial and sequential skills, but never had the opportunity to set the details of my math learning into the proper files in my mind. As I said in my introduction, my mind is a folder and when I encounter new information, I have to be able to put it somewhere or I don't understand it--I throw it away. My memory of math consists of the big subject areas that I defined for myself while I was learning in high school and the first year of college; that took so much of my own effort that the details didn't get added in.
Most math instruction isn't front-loaded. That is a problem for me, little miss visual spatial.
Math made sense to me, but only because when I was growing up, I sought out its purposes and adapted to create the spatial contexts I needed for learning. Now that I'm teaching myself, I've found myself applying our study of front-loading and engagement. (I'm very sequential when I need to be, but only if there's something to be sequential about...you know?)
I've begun with the question "Why do I need to know Math"? (Isn't this THE essential question??)
Some answers I've come up with have been: "Oh, it's a way to express the things that I see in a language that is more symbolic and visual than auditory." (But, is math a language? --and am I thinking of physics?) "It's a language to use to interpret the world and make predictions." (okay...I don't want to make predications.) "I need to know math in order to precisely communicate about the physical world." "I probably don't need to know math, but I want to be more fluent."
Here is an interesting article I found about teaching math to spatial learners. (In case anyone else is interested in re-teaching themselves math.)
Going along with all that, the most important thing that we can prioritize in order to engage students is utilizing the understanding that students have a need to contextualize the learning that they are going to receive. If they aren't conscious of this need, we who are aware of the way that learning occurs can help them by giving them this context in which to fill in the details of the learning that will come later in the course and in life. Some important moves to make in order for that to happen are to create lesson plans that allow for front-loading. We can plan our lessons so that we are constantly tying the discussion and tasks back to the big ideas we want to learn in the unit. It's important to include activities that will allow the students to brainstorm and think broadly about the essential ideas of the unit--this brainstorming at the beginning allows students to begin contextualizing the learning that they will do throughout the unit and will give them ideas when it comes to their performance assessments and writing assignments. In our classroom front-loading, I found that most activities that the activities that were most effective were the ones that stimulated ideas and emotions that brought in other areas of our lives.
In order to avoid creating activities that are fun, but not purposeful, it's important to create essential questions and sub-questions for the unit that one can use to keep all activities in-check. We can also utilize the "exit ticket"--and makes sure that we are discussing the activity and its purpose and/or assessing learning at the end of the activity. In order to keep the students thinking critically throughout the unit, and to help them keep ideas flowing during their writing process, we need to plan our units on essential questions that provide a purpose for their learning.
Early in the unit, we can begin the discussion of the unit essential questions by presenting activities that not only introduce and stimulate thinking about the essential question, but which also allow critical underpinnings to be identified. This will allow students to be more analytical from the outset of their study, and when the time comes for tasks to be performed, they will be better able to act in the way a professional critic/writer/scholar would.
The role of argument in engagement is to promote and sustain critical thinking. Discussion that happens throughout an activity also keeps this engagement going. Wilhelm says that the before-activity discussion helps motivate students and triggers their background knowledge. During the activity, discussion helps students to look for meaning and patterns (both literal and implied), and after the activity, continued discussion allows for reflection and transfer of learning. The end result is that, in future situations, the knowledge acquired in the activity will be able to be transferred to a following activity because of the discussion that took place.
Layna UNIT TOPIC MEMO 02.10.2011 UNIT TOPIC: Researched Discourse and Literary Theory (5 weeks)
"If there is any one secret to success, it lies in the ability to get the other person's point of view and see things from that person's angle as well as from your own." Henry Ford
(This quote is interesting, considering the source...)
RESOURCES:
Yale course ["Understanding Literary Theory"]: http://academicearth.org/courses/literary-theory
Lois Tyson's "Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide"
MLA International Bibliography (journal articles)
Classroom Texts: Grammar and Composition (Prentice-Hall), Roberts, Edgar - Writing About Literature (Prentice Hall)
STANDARDS:
I have modified a unit in the AP English syllabus from Weiser High School. The unit was originally an 8-10 page research paper on a major author or literary time period. It is usually presented toward the end of the first semester, following a 3 week unit on grammar (see AP Course Syllabus.doc, at the end of this memo).
My modifications to the unit are such that the topic of the researched paper will be a school of literary theory--tenants/development described in detail--and the theory's application to a text (of their choice) which will be read during the course.
( Austen, Jane - Pride and Prejudice
Ibsen, Henrik - "A Doll's House" & "Ghosts"
Wharton, Edith - Ethan Frome
Conrad, Joseph - Heart of Darkness
Bronte, Charlotte - Jane Eyre
Sophocles - The Oedipus Trilogy
Shelley, Mary - Frankenstein
Shakespeare, William - Macbeth)
The students will have the opportunity to choose from a set list of theories and texts and will receive a week's instruction/discussion on Literary theory/criticism (three days the first week and then two more days during the second week).
The paper will be 8-10 pages.
The following state standards will be addressed:
12.LA.3.4 Writing Process--Acquire skills for editing a draft
12.LA.4.2 Writing Application-- Acquire expository (informational/research) writing skills (0728.11.1)
12.LA.4.3 Writing Application--Acquire persuasive writing skills
12.LA.4.4 Writing Application--Acquire skills for literary response (0728.13.1)
The desired outcome of the unit is firstly that students will improve upon their ability to interpret texts, philosophically, from multiple angles. They will need to support their arguments by using research from scholarly sources--and thus will become better and finding what they need for their expository writing. They will also work on their ability to craft persuasive essays by practicing literary analysis using the tenet of one literary theory, as specified in the description of the final paper. Their group work will have an editing component which will improve their overall language and editing skills.
There will be several stages of self and peer-editing; during the first week, students will be divided up into five peer groups with a common literary school on which they will be writing. The groups will be called 'The Marxists', 'The New-Historicists', 'The Post-colonialists', 'The Romantics', and 'The Genders' (or 'The Feminists'). Each person in the group must choose a different text from the ones allowed, but they will not only be able to critique each other's work from a common theoretical stance, but also may be able to offer ideas for improvement as the drafts progress.
They will be expected to understand the differences among literary criticism, literary theory, and critical theory.
Because the unit is presented before the majority of the texts have been examined, the students will glean more from their later readings and have a basis from which to improve their analytic skills as they are asked to respond to the texts in the future.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: How important is it to be able to understand another person's point of view? How can we very intelligently argue for our beliefs by using facts rather than feelings? Can we learn to understand someone else's beliefs and present our own intelligently? How can we argue for someone else's viewpoint even when we don't really believe it to be correct?
CULMINATING PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT: The paper should demonstrate knowledge of a school of literary theory and its textual application, as well as the students' ability to write persuasively by using supporting research.
There will be a "test" over popular literary theories and their critical foundations during the second week of the unit. It will be a group presentation on the theory the group has been assigned to use. They will present on the tenets of the critical basis for the theory, the view the theory has of literature, and the techniques used for criticism through the theory.
Additionally, the students will be encouraged to present their work at the school research fair in the spring if they feel that they have been able to add something new or insightful to the discourse on their text.
REFLECTION ON LEARNING 01.30.2011
I'll be starting some weekly observations with one of my high school English teachers in lieu of the internship that is usually taken along with this course. Tomorrow, I'm going to focus on the How do we know that learning is happening? question.
I think that learning is a lot more messy than it is linear. In the course I took about Gifted and Talented children, I learned that there's an intensity that emanates from the child when he or she is learning or studying. I doubt that this is restricted to GAT kids; even if the intensity isn't as strong in a more regular child, one can probably see physical signs that someone is learning. It could be eye-contact and a look of recognition between and student and a teacher as instruction is given, or it could be a relaxed and open attitude that a child has while listening. However, it's probably different for each child--and it takes knowing a child personally to know how he or she physically expresses that he or she is learning.
Does learning mean moving through content? What if one idea breeds a million possibilities? There is a breadth and a depth to learning that makes it more dimensional than just a line moving in one direction. I think that understanding is something that is often visible in a person's eyes. When someone has come to understand something, what happens is more like a change in spatial position relative to the concept-- it's like being able to see all around something and also see its context-- a different awareness of one's self is formed by learning a different relation to the concept. Learning, on the other hand, isn't so much a movement relative to a concept, it's more like movement throughout a concept.
It helps me to think about things spatially. Maybe I'll make some drawings to help myself think about this and post them later. At any rate, tomorrow (Monday) will be interesting.
L A Y N A O Y E R V I D E S5.3.2011 Exploring Jungian Concepts of Archetypes with the reading of Siddhartha--Meta-narratives
5.8.2011: An addendum for HOT TOPICS
The first and most important step to being able to understand our role in preparing students to be competitive in the 21st century is to be willing to break with past ways of teaching--to discard old pedagogical habits. In our class discussion, this subject was often brought up. Since many teachers working in the school system were educated before the 21st century, it seems to be harder for these teachers to separate their needs from that of their students--even though they are clearly very different. This is especially true when thinking about technology. Since it's nice to be able to make up a curricular plan and use that over and over again, as technology quickly advances, it is easy to remain lost in the past. However, we can use our knowledge as future teachers in order to help the government make wise decisions about how to bring technology into the classroom. In the state of Idaho, for example, we might consider the way thats Luna's educational reform might or might not be helping students--and we can use pedagogical evidence to back it up. (That reminds me--I forgot to sign the petition at Winco.)
In order to better prepare students for a competitive 21st century experience, we need to emphasize broader mental skills: CRITICAL THINKING, PROBLEM SOLVING, COMMUNICATION, COLLABORATION, CREATIVITY, and INNOVATION--rather than focusing firstly on subjects. This follows the model that Understanding by Design champions--designing by standards, from the top down. Someone--or some-several--has clearly seen that American students are not competitive in the world and lack the development and guidance needed in the aforementioned six areas. These skills are cross-curricular, and can be explored in every subject. So, as educators, our role is to kindle these skills in our students--giving them the skills needed to gather the both basic info we would have tried to teach them in certain subject as well as the ability and desire to explore subjects in greater depth and with greater passion.
The Partnership for 21st century skills website: http://www.p21.org/ has a ton of resources detailing ways to implement the 6 themes into classrooms. Even if our school-board and staff isn't aware of it, we can certainly begin implementing these ideas without fear that we will miss something. The thirteenth chapter of Understanding by Design reminds us that we don't need to worry about getting to all the content we need to cover in a course--because if we plan around these larger themes, it will be easier for students to place the information into their minds and it is more likely happen anyway if we're focusing on bigger ideas. We need to remember that our job is to help students to see the obvious real world implications of what they are learning and to focus on interesting questions and issues that are relevant to the students--staying in the role of coach (UBD 314).
As I stated in the post I wrote on the 3rd regarding the 21st century Partnership, I think that focusing on collaboration can be very effective because in order to work together toward some common goal, all the other skills are needed. The goal and working toward it as a team can help peers utilize their unique strengths in order to achieve that goal. It can cause them to draw out the skills in each other that may be lying dormant--working toward a greater good can be very motivating. The teacher acts as the head coach, strategically placing students together in order to maximize the natural possibility for personal growth.
5.3.2011: Partnership for 21st Century Discussion
Since I ended up missing our discussion about the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, I thought I would at least write down my questions and then my own thoughts/notes about them.
As I was going through the site, my first question was more like concern over how to ensure that 21st century interdisciplinary themes could be included in classroom curriculum and properly assessed.
My second question was really about the relevancy of the 21st century content. Some people say that globalization has already ceased. I got all excited about that idea and started reading Noam Chomsky and was going to go on about how globalization means a couple different things when I realized that the theme was actually "Global Awareness". Global Awareness is just about being able to interact with people on a global level and being able to understand how to apply 21st century skills to a global context. But, I wonder if global awareness will even need to be addressed or if it will just be a given in twenty years. If these skills are quickly implemented, then society will quickly move on.
These were more like questions I was asking myself while I was reading. The site answered all of them. When I delved into the maps that have been developed for classroom integration in the Arts and English Curriculum, I was more interested. Within the English section, the main topics were Creativity/Innovation, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Communication, Collaboration, and Informational Literacy, Media Literacy, ICT literacy, Flexibility and Adaptability, Initiative and Self-Direction, Social and Cross-Cultural Skills, Productivity and Accountability, AND Leadership and Responsibility.
I think that the Information, Media, and Technology Skills category is probably the best part about the curriculum because it may help low-income student--who would have the least access to technology in theory (although I see a lot of poor kids with ipods--I suppose it depends upon financial priorities)--who would be left behind the easiest as the way we exchange information continues to change with our media and technological developments.
While all the themes are important, my next question is "which parts of this curriculum would be most useful in Idaho?"
All of them? Could we hold back a little on the civic literacy and addressing environmental issues and do more about global awareness? How do we make preliminary assessments about these issues?
What if we have a classroom of students, some from the 21st century and some from the 1800's? What if students don't desire to live in the 21st century?
What about the Quakers?
The Partnership for the 21st Century Skills assumes that students are accepting the idea that we live within time. Some students may think that the present is the only thing that matters. What if they're not willing to ride "Time's Arrow" to coming entropy?
[Luckily, they will still know how to play the 21st century game. That's all the curriculum is trying to teach, right? I may have to have this conversation if I have a silly student like myself... ]
Otherwise, I think the curriculum is a good way to progress within that movement. It seems more freeform than the current curriculum--more focused on student needs than what is in place now. Within Art curriculum, one sees a lot of the media side of things. I think more of the focus can be on developing little collaborators who look for ideas and skills in each other and the world around them. That will breed creativity. Communication will be a part of the collaborative goal.
Is there something in that might be the best thing to focus on in the English map? Maybe the same; developing collaborative thinking and doing?
4.5.2011 DISCUSSION
When I was doing my observation, I was taken aback to when I had been sitting in the same classroom several years ago. I had been slightly aghast at how often my teacher broke into reading with discussion. I was really against it--shouldn't we read the whole story and then go back and talk about it? But I noticed how refreshing it was to break up the inner dialogue I was having with the text with some discussion--if only to make that inner dialogue become conscious and organized. It gave me chance to say something enlightened, but I avoided that most of the time because understanding the dialogue that other people were having with the book was more interesting for me (well, and who knew if I was even on what was considered 'the right page', esoterically???) While I was observing this same teacher I had the same initial response to the amount of discussion she implemented, but I realize now that there are a few things she didn't demonstrate while I was observing. She would lead the total class discussion but the questions were mostly 'yes' or 'no' questions, and she could have waited a little longer for responses. I noticed that she had a hard time not interjecting her opinions into the discussion, but that she was conscious of the fact that it was better if she was not doing that. It's apparent to me that the reason she would use this method of discussion is that it is hard to keep the high schoolers talking about English--I think she feels safer if she is able to maintain control of the classroom by doing one large discussion. It would be rude to e-mail her some of the schemes from Wilhelm, but if I could improve her class, which usually ended with homework assignments and five minutes of down-time, I'd have her class doing guided group discussion earlier in the period--more front-loading sorts of things.
I wouldn't use the ReQuest questioning scheme right away with them, since they aren't reading non-fiction and the other schemes might work better; however, I like it the most because it seems to address levels of meaning and this is one of the things that I want them to *hypothetically* learn to recognize with my literary theory unit. I want them to read while looking for these levels of meanings so that they can analyze the text they are assigned through their assigned theory. I'll implement the ReQuest Activity and Discussion, as this well help them to become acquainted with the text they are assigned as well as with their particular thoughts on the subject. Since they will have to explain and discuss their paper at the end of the unit, this will prepare them for questions that may come at that time.
3.13.11: Unit Calendar
ENGAGEMENT: 02.27.2011
This month, I've been playing around with the notion of adding a math endorsement. It would be easy--just take a couple tests with the ABCTE program--however, it has been a long time since I studied math and there is a section on linear algebra that I need to spend a lot of time learning. I have always had good spatial and sequential skills, but never had the opportunity to set the details of my math learning into the proper files in my mind. As I said in my introduction, my mind is a folder and when I encounter new information, I have to be able to put it somewhere or I don't understand it--I throw it away. My memory of math consists of the big subject areas that I defined for myself while I was learning in high school and the first year of college; that took so much of my own effort that the details didn't get added in.
Most math instruction isn't front-loaded. That is a problem for me, little miss visual spatial.
Math made sense to me, but only because when I was growing up, I sought out its purposes and adapted to create the spatial contexts I needed for learning. Now that I'm teaching myself, I've found myself applying our study of front-loading and engagement. (I'm very sequential when I need to be, but only if there's something to be sequential about...you know?)
I've begun with the question "Why do I need to know Math"?
(Isn't this THE essential question??)
Some answers I've come up with have been:
"Oh, it's a way to express the things that I see in a language that is more symbolic and visual than auditory."
(But, is math a language? --and am I thinking of physics?)
"It's a language to use to interpret the world and make predictions."
(okay...I don't want to make predications.)
"I need to know math in order to precisely communicate about the physical world."
"I probably don't need to know math, but I want to be more fluent."
Here is an interesting article I found about teaching math to spatial learners.
(In case anyone else is interested in re-teaching themselves math.)
Going along with all that, the most important thing that we can prioritize in order to engage students is utilizing the understanding that students have a need to contextualize the learning that they are going to receive. If they aren't conscious of this need, we who are aware of the way that learning occurs can help them by giving them this context in which to fill in the details of the learning that will come later in the course and in life. Some important moves to make in order for that to happen are to create lesson plans that allow for front-loading. We can plan our lessons so that we are constantly tying the discussion and tasks back to the big ideas we want to learn in the unit. It's important to include activities that will allow the students to brainstorm and think broadly about the essential ideas of the unit--this brainstorming at the beginning allows students to begin contextualizing the learning that they will do throughout the unit and will give them ideas when it comes to their performance assessments and writing assignments. In our classroom front-loading, I found that most activities that the activities that were most effective were the ones that stimulated ideas and emotions that brought in other areas of our lives.
In order to avoid creating activities that are fun, but not purposeful, it's important to create essential questions and sub-questions for the unit that one can use to keep all activities in-check. We can also utilize the "exit ticket"--and makes sure that we are discussing the activity and its purpose and/or assessing learning at the end of the activity. In order to keep the students thinking critically throughout the unit, and to help them keep ideas flowing during their writing process, we need to plan our units on essential questions that provide a purpose for their learning.
Early in the unit, we can begin the discussion of the unit essential questions by presenting activities that not only introduce and stimulate thinking about the essential question, but which also allow critical underpinnings to be identified. This will allow students to be more analytical from the outset of their study, and when the time comes for tasks to be performed, they will be better able to act in the way a professional critic/writer/scholar would.
The role of argument in engagement is to promote and sustain critical thinking. Discussion that happens throughout an activity also keeps this engagement going. Wilhelm says that the before-activity discussion helps motivate students and triggers their background knowledge. During the activity, discussion helps students to look for meaning and patterns (both literal and implied), and after the activity, continued discussion allows for reflection and transfer of learning. The end result is that, in future situations, the knowledge acquired in the activity will be able to be transferred to a following activity because of the discussion that took place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF6mh5TNcUk
you're probably all fairly familiar with this...
Layna
UNIT TOPIC MEMO 02.10.2011
UNIT TOPIC: Researched Discourse and Literary Theory (5 weeks)
"If there is any one secret to success, it lies in the ability to get the other person's point of view and see things from that person's angle as well as from your own." Henry Ford
(This quote is interesting, considering the source...)
RESOURCES:
Yale course ["Understanding Literary Theory"]: http://academicearth.org/courses/literary-theory
Lois Tyson's "Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide"
MLA International Bibliography (journal articles)
Classroom Texts: Grammar and Composition (Prentice-Hall), Roberts, Edgar - Writing About Literature (Prentice Hall)
STANDARDS:
I have modified a unit in the AP English syllabus from Weiser High School. The unit was originally an 8-10 page research paper on a major author or literary time period. It is usually presented toward the end of the first semester, following a 3 week unit on grammar (see AP Course Syllabus.doc, at the end of this memo).
My modifications to the unit are such that the topic of the researched paper will be a school of literary theory--tenants/development described in detail--and the theory's application to a text (of their choice) which will be read during the course.
( Austen, Jane - Pride and Prejudice
Ibsen, Henrik - "A Doll's House" & "Ghosts"
Wharton, Edith - Ethan Frome
Conrad, Joseph - Heart of Darkness
Bronte, Charlotte - Jane Eyre
Sophocles - The Oedipus Trilogy
Shelley, Mary - Frankenstein
Shakespeare, William - Macbeth)
The students will have the opportunity to choose from a set list of theories and texts and will receive a week's instruction/discussion on Literary theory/criticism (three days the first week and then two more days during the second week).
The paper will be 8-10 pages.
The following state standards will be addressed:
12.LA.3.4 Writing Process--Acquire skills for editing a draft
12.LA.4.2 Writing Application-- Acquire expository (informational/research) writing skills (0728.11.1)
12.LA.4.3 Writing Application--Acquire persuasive writing skills
12.LA.4.4 Writing Application--Acquire skills for literary response (0728.13.1)
The desired outcome of the unit is firstly that students will improve upon their ability to interpret texts, philosophically, from multiple angles.
They will need to support their arguments by using research from scholarly sources--and thus will become better and finding what they need for their expository writing. They will also work on their ability to craft persuasive essays by practicing literary analysis using the tenet of one literary theory, as specified in the description of the final paper. Their group work will have an editing component which will improve their overall language and editing skills.
There will be several stages of self and peer-editing; during the first week, students will be divided up into five peer groups with a common literary school on which they will be writing. The groups will be called 'The Marxists', 'The New-Historicists', 'The Post-colonialists', 'The Romantics', and 'The Genders' (or 'The Feminists'). Each person in the group must choose a different text from the ones allowed, but they will not only be able to critique each other's work from a common theoretical stance, but also may be able to offer ideas for improvement as the drafts progress.
They will be expected to understand the differences among literary criticism, literary theory, and critical theory.
Because the unit is presented before the majority of the texts have been examined, the students will glean more from their later readings and have a basis from which to improve their analytic skills as they are asked to respond to the texts in the future.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
How important is it to be able to understand another person's point of view?
How can we very intelligently argue for our beliefs by using facts rather than feelings?
Can we learn to understand someone else's beliefs and present our own intelligently?
How can we argue for someone else's viewpoint even when we don't really believe it to be correct?
CULMINATING PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT:
The paper should demonstrate knowledge of a school of literary theory and its textual application, as well as the students' ability to write persuasively by using supporting research.
There will be a "test" over popular literary theories and their critical foundations during the second week of the unit. It will be a group presentation on the theory the group has been assigned to use. They will present on the tenets of the critical basis for the theory, the view the theory has of literature, and the techniques used for criticism through the theory.
Additionally, the students will be encouraged to present their work at the school research fair in the spring if they feel that they have been able to add something new or insightful to the discourse on their text.
REFLECTION ON LEARNING 01.30.2011
I'll be starting some weekly observations with one of my high school English teachers in lieu of the internship that is usually taken along with this course. Tomorrow, I'm going to focus on the How do we know that learning is happening? question.
I think that learning is a lot more messy than it is linear. In the course I took about Gifted and Talented children, I learned that there's an intensity that emanates from the child when he or she is learning or studying. I doubt that this is restricted to GAT kids; even if the intensity isn't as strong in a more regular child, one can probably see physical signs that someone is learning. It could be eye-contact and a look of recognition between and student and a teacher as instruction is given, or it could be a relaxed and open attitude that a child has while listening. However, it's probably different for each child--and it takes knowing a child personally to know how he or she physically expresses that he or she is learning.
Does learning mean moving through content? What if one idea breeds a million possibilities? There is a breadth and a depth to learning that makes it more dimensional than just a line moving in one direction. I think that understanding is something that is often visible in a person's eyes. When someone has come to understand something, what happens is more like a change in spatial position relative to the concept-- it's like being able to see all around something and also see its context-- a different awareness of one's self is formed by learning a different relation to the concept. Learning, on the other hand, isn't so much a movement relative to a concept, it's more like movement throughout a concept.
It helps me to think about things spatially. Maybe I'll make some drawings to help myself think about this and post them later. At any rate, tomorrow (Monday) will be interesting.
LEARNING BIOGRAPHY 01.28.2011